One party believes in low taxes, local control, and limited central government. It strongly supports traditional values and is suspicious of foreigners and urban culture. Abroad, it is isolationist.
The other party is urban, cosmopolitan, and dynamic. It believes in using the power of the central government to grow the economy. It is the party of the elites.
Is this the UK in 1715, the US in 1800, or the US today? You decide.
As you can see, the Whig/Tory split is a fundamental one that runs through the history of our country and still resonates today. However, today’s GOP diverges from the Tory model in two respects, both attributable to Ronald Reagan:
- Tories believe in small government and low taxes, but they aren’t tax cutting fundamentalists. For today’s GOP, cutting taxes is an article of faith, to be followed even in the face of all of the evidence.
- The Trump Administration is torn between “America First” isolationists and supporters of a swaggering, robust foreign policy that embraces, rather than tolerates, strong men. The former are the true heirs of the Tories; the latter are the heirs of Reagan.